A 48-year-old woman with generalised atheromatous disease had a right nephrectomy for a renal artery occlusion in 1977. Fourteen months later she presented with severe hypertension and anuria, caused by occlusion of the left renal artery. Emergency reconstructive surgery was successful in bringing about recovery of renal function and lowering of her blood pressure. Because renal function had deteriorated slightly after the first operation and improved after the second, a comparison was made of the effects of unilateral nephrectomy and reconstructive surgery on renal function in a further 26 patients with renal artery stenosis. In 15 patients having nephrectomy, renal function deteriorated in most, while in 11 having reconstruction it improved in nine and remained constant in two.
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